Tyrants Writing Poetry

Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-963-386-202-5
Verlag: Central European University Press

Buch, Englisch, 286 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 226 mm, Gewicht: 431 g

Why do tyrants - of all people - often have poetic aspirations? Where do terror and prose meet? This book contains nine case studies that compare the cultural history of totalitarian regimes. The essays focus not on the arts, literature or architecture but on the phenomenon that many of history's great despots considered themselves talented writers. By studying the artistic ambitions of Nero, Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Kim Il-sung, Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Saparmurat Niyazov and Radovan Karadzic, the authors explore the complicated relationship between poetry and political violence, and provide a fascinating look at the aesthetic dimensions of total power. The essays make an important contribution to a number of fields: the study of totalitarian regimes, cultural studies, and biographies of 20th century leaders. They underscore the frequent correlation between tyrannical governance and an excessive passion for language, and demonstrate that the combination of artistic and political charisma is often effective in the quest for absolute power.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Koschorke, Albrecht

Kaminskij, Konstantin

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
Albrecht Koschorke and Konstantin Kaminskij

The Tyrant with his Back to the Wall: Nero’s Artistic Self-Expansion
Ulrich Gotter

Benito Mussolini: “Babeuf” (1902)
Poetry and Tyranny: The Case of Benito Mussolini
Richard Bosworth

Joseph Stalin: “Over this Land” (1895)
Stalin’s Writing: From the Romantic Poetry of the Future to the Socialist Realist Prose of the Past
Evgeny Dobrenko

Adolf Hitler: Excerpt from Mein Kampf (1924)
Ideology in Execution: On Hitler’s Mein Kampf
Albrecht Koschorke

Kim Il-sung: “Poem Dedicated to Comrade Kim Jong-il in His 50 th Birthday” (1992)
Dead Father’s Living Body: Kim Il-sung’s Seed theory and the North Korean Arts
Suk-Young Kim

Mao Zedong: “Snow” (1936)
Mao Zedong’s Poetry: Form as Statement
Karl-Heinz Pohl

Muammar al-Gaddafi: Excerpt from “Escape to Hell” (1993)
A Poor Despot Descends to Hell: On the Writing and Thinking Styles of Muammar al-Gaddafi
Heiner Lohmann

Saddam Hussein: “Unbind it” (2007)
The Principle of Single-Handed Tyranny: On Saddam Hussein’s Literary Works
Burkhard Müller

Saparmyrat Niyazov: “You are a Turkman” (2001)
Saparmurat Niyazov’s Ruhnama: The Invention of Turkmenistan
Riccardo Nicolosi

Radovan Karadžic: “Sarajevo” (1971)
“Nothing is Forbidden in my Faith”: The Metamorphoses of Radovan Karadžic
Slavoj Žižek

List of Contributors

Über Autor(innen)

Koschorke, Albrecht
Albrect Koschorke is Professor of German Literature and Literary Studies at the University of Konstanz.

Kaminskij, Konstantin
Konstantin Kaminskij is Assistant Professor at the University of Konstanz and the founder of the Central Asia and Caucasus School for Ecological Education.